Brew mat or Brew belt for use with Inkbird please?

[Bootcutboy]

Hi all

I am looking at investing in either a brew mat or brew belt to use with an Inkbird temp controller but can anyone recommend which one works better in keeping a steady temperature please?

Also when using the temperature sensor of the Inkbird how would I best attach this for most accurate reading? If I attatch to outside of FV then won’t it read the outside temperature rather than the liquid inside?

Any advice on these points would be awesome thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Deathstar]

So, I am using a mat as for me it provides a mre even heat from the bottom rather than from a isolated point around the middle. I have my probe, taped to the outside, but then covered with some insulating material to try and limit external influences. I find that my temp is only swinging around 0.5c.
Next move will be to a fridge, but at this time of year I dont need to use the cooling facility.

 

[JonBrew]

I've never used a heat mat but I've got a couple of brew belts and they work very well for me when combined with the inkbird.

As per @Deathstar in terms of insulating it.

 

[Bootcutboy]

Ok thanks chaps, they’re both very similar I guess, I think I’m going to go the heat pad route. At the risk of sounding like a total amateur (which I guess I am) when do people use the fridges for cooling? Is this for beer or wine brewing? And why please?

 

[terrym]

I use an Inkbird instead of the heater thermostat to control my water bath and it works well.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-set-up-a-water-bath-for-your-fv.66407/
And people use brew fridges because in modified form with an internal heater you can heat and cool and can therefore control the temperatures for ale fermentations (say19-20*C), lager (say 11-13*C) and crash cooling (as low as your fridge will go)

 

[Bootcutboy]

I use an Inkbird instead of the heater thermostat to control my water bath and it works well.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-set-up-a-water-bath-for-your-fv.66407/
And people use brew fridges because in modified form with an internal heater you can heat and cool and can therefore control the temperatures for ale fermentations (say19-20*C), lager (say 11-13*C) and crash cooling (as low as your fridge will go)

Lovely stuff thanks for the info!